Global News

KARACHI: Pakistanis residing in foreign countries continued to send higher remittances back home as more people went abroad and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) conditions forced them to utilise legal remittance channels.

Overseas Pakistanis remitted $13.30 billion in first seven months (Jul-Jan) of current fiscal year, which was 4% higher than the $12.77 billion received in the same period of last year, the State
Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Wednesday. Alone in January, the remittances increased 9% to $1.9 billion compared to $1.74 billion in the same month of previous year, it added.

“Overall, a continued growth trend is now emerging in remittance inflows,” Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Samiullah Tariq told The Express Tribune.

Remittances from two leading Western countries – the US and the UK – were rising continuously since Pakistan was implementing anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financing of terrorism (CFT) rules of the global financial transaction watchdog – the FATF, he said.

Remittances from the US and the UK grew 11% and 6% respectively and cumulatively accounted for over 32% of the total remittances of $13.30 billion in first seven months of current fiscal year 2019-20.

On the other hand, the growth in remittances from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which were the top two countries in terms of remittances, slowed down.

KARACHI: Pakistanis residing in foreign countries continued to send higher remittances back home as more people went abroad and the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) conditions forced them to utilise legal remittance channels.

Overseas Pakistanis remitted $13.30 billion in first seven months (Jul-Jan) of current fiscal year, which was 4% higher than the $12.77 billion received in the same period of last year, the State
Bank of Pakistan (SBP) reported on Wednesday. Alone in January, the remittances increased 9% to $1.9 billion compared to $1.74 billion in the same month of previous year, it added.

“Overall, a continued growth trend is now emerging in remittance inflows,” Arif Habib Limited Head of Research Samiullah Tariq told.

Remittances from two leading Western countries – the US and the UK – were rising continuously since Pakistan was implementing anti-money laundering (AML) and combating financing of terrorism (CFT) rules of the global financial transaction watchdog – the FATF, he said.

Remittances from the US and the UK grew 11% and 6% respectively and cumulatively accounted for over 32% of the total remittances of $13.30 billion in first seven months of current fiscal year 2019-20.

On the other hand, the growth in remittances from Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which were the top two countries in terms of remittances, slowed down.

“The two oil-producing and exporting countries are facing economic headwinds since international oil prices have failed to maintain the uptrend in recent months,” Tariq said. “The situation has impacted the growth in remittances to Pakistan, though most of the expatriate Pakistanis reside in the two Middle Eastern nations.”

“The two oil-producing and exporting countries are facing economic headwinds since international oil prices have failed to maintain the uptrend in recent months,” Tariq said. “The situation has impacted the growth in remittances to Pakistan, though most of the expatriate Pakistanis reside in the two Middle Eastern nations.”